Four days following the termination of its strategic partnership with Hawtai Motor Group (earlier post), Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) announced that it and Saab Automobile AB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., Ltd (Pang Da), China’s largest publicly traded automobile distributor with more than 1100 dealerships nationwide.

The MoU includes a strategic alliance consisting of a 50/50 distribution joint venture and a manufacturing joint venture (MJV) for Saab branded vehicles as well as for an MJV-owned brand (child brand) in China. Saab Automobile will have up to 50% in the MJV, with Pang Da and a to-be-selected manufacturing partner owning the remaining shares.

Pang Da shall make a €30 million (US$42.4 million) payment for the purchase of Saab vehicles and is expected to make an additional €15 million (US$21 million) for the purchase of more Saab vehicles within 30 days subject to certain circumstances.

Additionally, Pang Da will take an equity stake in Spyker for a total amount of €65 million (US$92 million) at €4.19 per share (the weighted average of the ten last trading days), representing 24% of Spyker on a fully diluted basis, and will have the right to nominate a member of the Supervisory Board of Spyker and /or the Board of Saab Automobile.

Some of the transactions following the MoU are subject to agreement on definitive transaction documents and certain conditions, which include consents from certain Chinese governmental agencies, the European Investment Bank, GM and the Swedish National Debt Office.

With the receipt of Pang Da’s €30-million initial payment, Saab Automobile aims to come to an agreement on payment and delivery terms with its suppliers as it secured the liquidity that is required to restart production as soon as possible. In order to improve lead times to customers and dealers on existing and future orders, Saab Automobile will work together with its suppliers to minimize any impact from the recent production stop.

Having just gone public ourselves three weeks ago, we are delighted to have the opportunity to become a substantial shareholder in Spyker, Saab’s parent. We very much look forward to collaborating with Saab’s management to successfully enter our promising home market.

Comments

I sounded like the Chinese could not make the initial deal happen. After Penske dropped out Spyker was all that was left to purchase Saab. Now they are trying to expand their distribution, if they can they might get some financing and get on with building cars.